WASHINGTON, D.C. — Democratic leaders of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee unveiled their second health care reform bill on Thursday. Cost? $611 billion over 10 years. Coverage? 97 percent of Americans — and that according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) — the New York Times said.
The health committee plan, which builds on one the CBO said a few weeks ago was too costly and would cover too few people, would create a public competitor for private health insurance plans and would require employers to offer coverage to employees or face penalties. Time magazine and CNN said that Republicans dispute the 97 percent coverage assertion.
Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the committee, sent a letter to committee members outlining the revised bill (pdf), which the the committee calls the Affordable Health Choices Act.
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Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Ohio Democrat, joined fellow committee members Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) in a press conference call Thursday to announce the revised bill. Despite the Congressional Budget Office’s negative analysis of the preliminary legislation, Brown has been describing it as a way to give Americans broad health care choices, keeping health care costs down and insurance companies honest.
The committee has proposed charging employers who don’t offer adequate coverage $750 per full-time and $375 per part-time uncovered employee, according to a document provided by Sen. Brown’s office. Companies with fewer than 25 workers would not be assessed. Employers would have to pay at least 60 percent of the monthly premiums for employees or face quarterly assessments.
A wild card in the revised committee bill: the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid and its reform, is expected to expand the government health program for the poor, adding hundreds of billions of dollars to the cost of the legislation, the Times said.
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